Criminals at Goldman Sachs who sold SHITTY DEALS, JP Morgan who give out FOOD STAMPS to the people they stole from, BoA who ILLEGALLY FORECLOSED on home owners, etc will get big bonuses while whistleblowers will go to jail.

This is not new. When Jan Fleischhauer wrote his opinion in Der Spiegel, he received a letter from Brussels three days later. Maoist Barroso was not amused to read a critique of his person. Der Spiegel was warned.

that's too close to the funny bone...it hurts...as when you are an entreprenuer you get clouted by government run monopoly suppliers or by the tax authorities, for peanuts, doctored into Eiffel tower "you owe us"...

They are, but like many companies, they also manage a bond-rating agency on the side but their scoring methodology is said to be too confusing. For example, in terms of AMF ratings, AAA is akin to a 300 score.

Anyway, according to published reports, "due to a 'gutter ball' in Greece's latest frame, the AMF is recalculating their score this week."

Speaking of Murdoch... Fox News claimed Rick "crony capitalist" Perry won last night's debate. I guess enforcing vaccinations and farming out the work to your friends at Merck is a-ok, by Murdoch's standards.

Bullshit. Merck had perry mandate the vaccinations even though he didn't have authority as governor to do this. Merck knew there was liability risk from bad reactions but as the vaccinations were mandated by the state any fallout would be covered by state liability funding, not merck's coffers. Perry doesn't give a fuck about little girls, he was making a cash deal at their expense.

Was it widely understood that there was an opt out provision? Perry made vaccination a mandate without authority to do so, the opting out part comes from either 1) the knowledge that he wasn't authorized and challenging the bureaucracy, or 2) not sending your kids to public school as they didn't have their vaccinations.

Germany has called on eurozone members to stick together in an attempt to settle nerves over the potential Greek default. The Chancellor says that Greece must stay aboard the bloc to avoid causing a domino effect. Her statement came after fears of Greece declaring bankruptcy caused a sharp fall in global markets on Monday. It was triggered by reports that Germany was preparing for Greece to leave the eurozone. Athens has been struggling to bring its debt crisis under control despite stringent austerity measures. Financial journalist Demetri Kofinas says that there is no easy way out.

No wonder we aren't seeing prosecutions of Wall Street wrongdoers who brought us the financial crisis. Senator Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is particularly concerned about this destruction of records at the SEC.

Unfortunately, the SEC also has a terrible track record with its revolving door. Enforcement Division attorneys, even Division Chiefs, frequently move directly to high paying jobs at companies that are the subject of investigations, including some of those listed above as having their preliminary investigations records destroyed.

The SEC also has a bad record of firing or retaliating against whistleblowers. In fact, the whistleblower here, Darcy Flynn, is represented by Gary Aguirre, a former SEC staff attorney who received a $755,000 settlement in June 2010 as a result of his lawsuit charging wrongful termination in 2005 when he was investigating a prominent hedge fund.

No surprise: The SEC has not been cooperative with either the Congressional investigation or requests for explanation from the National Archives and Records Administration. The SEC was supposed to keep records for 25 years -- time to see a pattern of possible illegal activity on the part of companies investigated. The SEC made its own policy to destroy records as soon as a preliminary investigation was closed.

I was reminded of the cartoon that surfaced during the Arthur Andersen records destruction case:

An Arthur Anderson partner says to his secretary, "Did you get my message to ship the Enron documents to the Feds'?" The secretary responds, "Oh no, I thought you said rip the Enron documents to shreds."

Meanwhile, the Rothschilds are once again attempting to exert their influence over the upcoming elections

Lynn de Rothschild Hosts Fundraiser for Huntsman

A dinner in Manhattan, hosted by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, was the venue to kickoff Mr. Huntsman’s fund-raising effort. It was the first stop in a weeklong fund-raising sprint, as Mr. Huntsman tries to catch up with the rest of the Republican presidential field that is locked in a cutthroat scramble to sign up high-dollar donors.

Haven't seen a lot of pedophiles interrogated myself, mostly just hung from trees by their gonads, but what better insider than a Chinese speaking patsy whom happens to be Romney's cousin? No surprise to me.

I was thinking the same when I saw that debate [refering to the GOP Debate at the Reagan library] And I am not even an American citizen. I know it might not be very popular to say this, and I know that German candidates are not better or anything like that, but this Rick Perry scared the hell out of me. He seems to be an opportunist and a true showman. I might add that he is skilled as an actor. And such politicians always scare me. His lust for power. And I am predicting that if Perry will be the next president, we will see another American war.

The contrast to this is Ron Paul. You instinctively notice his decency and his honesty. He is really representing the American citizen. At least you have a choice. I envy you. When I am looking at the current politicians here - it is hopeless and I have no choice at all.

I would love to know how much speech time was given to Ron Paul in that debate. It seemed to be shorter than what the other candidates got.

" The great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches...that was the blunder of 1848...but by blood and iron.'

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) was the Ministerpräsident or Prime Minister of Prussia. Bismarck policies brought about 3 European wars which led to the unification of Germany. -- for all you not Prussians and public school kids out there.

Good old Bismarck. Still seen as one of the most important Germans of all time. Well, at least according to the show "Unsere Besten" ("Our Best") - 9th place (Einstein was 10th; 1: Adenauer; 2: Martin Luther; 3: Karl Marx;)

Just pulling you leg buddy. The next time I am in Ostpreußen, I wil buy you a 50 year Schnaps. Be careful with us of Bavarian stock. We'll put a "Red Neck" on you and find a way to drain you of some change.

The french banks are obesssed by a pervasive feeling of insider trading and financial conspiracy in WS. They don't believe that the US market's main actors are not systematically, and in recurrent fashion, acting in tilted tabe conspiratorial mode. So "first amendment" is not their perception of the problem; its more predatory and illegal, as unfounded or slily media fed, rumour mongering to ensure a huge speculative run at their expense.

We are in the chicken and the egg situation. Is the speculative, predatory nature of a manipulated market the key factor in "dishonest" financial plays world wide by dominant power players (the US PDs and their HF fronts) or is it the real fragility of the said banks which is responsible for such market moves? Nobody who is a reader of the ZH blog can deny that both these two realities exist in the current market as ZH bloggers have so vividly highlighted time and again. When the PROVEN reality, as per the Zh perception, is that BOTH the said french banks are fragile due to their past actions AND that WS actions are totally manipulated and totally dishonest, as these US PDs are so in debt they are prepared to rape their own daughters to save their own skins, the ethical question is not clear. It is a choice between two LIES, the bank lie and the WS lie. So invoking the first amendment which defends "sincere" freedom of expression is not the real issue IMHO in this case.

Having said that, the Euro banking situation does not deserve any respect from the market. Does it deserve manipulation?

We are now at the heart of the problem. Is the inordinate financial power of these markets, in the context of thirty years of bubble economy exuberance, the true expression of capitalism? I don't think so. But thats just one opinion. We must not let the tree of current euro bank runs hide the reality of the forest of a mad financialised market.

Insider trading is way more prevalent and way less scrutinized (as is illegal short selling) in Germany then on WS. They should look next door before getting all bitchy at Lafayette's unholy love child.

Mad dogs are more like. It has been apparent for quite some time that certain individuals and many large corporations have reached a place where the power they wield rivals many states. Some of these entities feel free to wage financial war.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Our founders should have stopped after the first five words!:)

You're totally right. We should convene a Constitutional Convention immediately to clarify that the First Amendment, as originally intended, entitles all Americans to their own television shows at somebody else's expense.

BNP is simply giving voice to what financiers the world over believe. Namely that they and their interests are the only real national security concerns of their societies. Therefore anything that threatens them is a direct threat against society. Sociopathic sick fucks

BNP can call all the dogs it wants. Pure bluster. It is still shut out of crucial funding markets. Today's dramatic stock price reversal could be epic tape painting (it sure ain't short covering) or simple insider trading ahead of the announcement of a French government bailout.